Good Friends

My good friend Krista and I have worked out a deal where one week I watch her son Zachary and the next week she watches Micah and Lucy.  What do we do when we aren't watching each other's kids?  We take turns volunteering in our kids' kindergarten classrooms or anywhere else we might be needed.  It's worked out pretty great so far, because we moms get to know the friends that our sons come home talking about and Zachary, Lucy, and Micah learn all about being good friends to each other.  And good friends they are!  Today we read "Where the Wild Things Are" and "the Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear."  We played cars and we enjoyed some of the beautiful day outside.

 Good Friends

Micah is looking at Lucy's hard hat...

Don't mind if I do! (of course Micah said please and thank you since they are such good buddies)

How do I look?

I'm outta here!

She is so cute!

ball!  ball!  ball!

Look at me!

The fun we had yesterday

Here is a look into the fun we had yesterday...

Micah being a goofy goober.

Hannah had her first flute practice on Thursday and she has been so excited to practice since!  Here she is showing me some notes she learned.

Here she is showing me her wonderful posture

Last night she was in her room practicing and it was so precious.  It was so fun to here the missed notes and how she was struggling to blow into the flute and make the right sounds.  It might sound crazy but I really enjoyed listening to her practice.

Timmy and Kenan stayed home from school because they weren't feeling well.  Their "resting" turned into massive fort building

Micah and Lucy were hamming it up yesterday.  I tried to get Micah to sit next to Lucy, instead he sat on her legs.  It doesn't seem to be bothering her though.  They are buddies!

So that is a day in the life of our family!

P.S This is my 100th blog post!  I can't believe I have kept it up!  I really didn't have any idea how much I'd like blogging.  I've really enjoyed learning about blogging, and reading other blogs such as:

O My Family

MckMama

Kelly's Korner

Matt Logelin

The logical Mommy

5 minutes Please

for the mini mckinney

and my sister's blog:

Sarah explains it all

I blog mainly for the fun of it.  I like journaling and documenting our life and it will be fun to look back on.  I have no idea how many if many people read my blog but that's not why I do it.  It's just for fun.  I love to scrapbook and this help take it's place when I can't don't have the time to pull out all of my supplies, and lay them all out and make a page or two before putting it all away again.  Someday.

Overwhelmed with love

Tonight I was giving Hannah a hug goodnight and as I started to pray for her, I couldn't finish.  I was so overcome with emotion that I just sat and hugged her.  I told her how proud I was of her, and how happy I was being her mommy.  She is such a blessing and I need to remember to keep affirming that in her life.

So much fun!

Today I volunteered in Kenan's kindergarten class and oh my word, was that fun!  These kids are so little and cute!  My jobs for the day were to do an assessment of each kid on the five senses and to put up a core knowledge bulletin board.  I also got to be the V.I.P reader for the day!

For the assessment I asked them 15 questions and wrote down their answers.  Some of the answers were the same like what the five senses were and what you used your eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and hands for.  Then I asked them to name something salty, sweet, bitter, and sour.  For sweet, the answers were mostly candy, and lemons (really?) one kid said honey and one said sweetarts.  For Salty the answers were pretzels and chips, salt, and crackers.  Sour was mostly lemons.  We had one lime and one sour patch kids. Yes, those are good answers too, I said.  Bitter, I think every kids said salad.  Oh, except Kenan who said broccoli.  Blankey's were a popular answer for something that is soft.  My favorite question was name a danger sound.  A couple kids said a siren or fire alarm.  Most kids would growl, roar or howl instead of actually telling me the word, which was fine.  Made for a pretty entertaining time.  The last question was why do we need our five senses?  Most every kids said something to the effect of "they keep us safe" or they help us to know to stay away from bad things and close to good things."  I thought that was the hardest question but they all did really well.

I got to decorate a bulletin board for the core knowledge subject about plants and how they grow.  That was fun because I got put on my creativity cap and put it up however I wanted.

When I was V.I.P reader Kenan was able to sit in the special green chair and I sat in the rocking chair.  We read Olivia and the Missing Toy.  Oh, and we read through Kenan's pirate sticker book.  He insisted that I read that today.  He even tried sneaking inside the Olivia book.  I told him he could put it in his backpack.  He showed his teacher and then wouldn't let me forget to read it.  So we read it.  Kenan was happy.

I helped get the kids settled for lunch and then I was on my way.  I had so much fun just getting to know each of the kids.  They are so funny and so adorable!  I think my favorite part was when Kenan finally realized I was in the classroom.  His whole face lit up and he just beamed.  I look forward to going back in a couple weeks.

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our 13th Anniversary.
I love my husband because he's there for me.  I love running into his waiting arms for a hug when the day is rough.  He listens to me and is so patient with me.  He loves to cook and usually takes over dinner most nights.  He helps clean the house and does the laundry.  He encourages me and lifts me up.  He is a wonderful daddy!  He faithfully tucks Micah and Kenan into bed at night, he knows how to get through to the kids when I feel ready to give up.  He teaches them and guides them, and loves them unconditionally.  He takes time to talk with Timmy and Hannah and gently lead them to follow after the Lord.
He relieves me when I'm at my wit's end.  He keeps me grounded and makes me whole.
I am amazed at how much we've been through together, yet we are together, forever.  I love him so much!  13 years has brought us many tears, and many triumphs.  It has brought us closer together and deepened our faith in God and our love for each other.  Not every moment has been peaches and cream, but every moment with him has taught me more about love, gentleness, self control, patience, faithfulness, peace, kindness, and joy.
Though it's nothing like the movies, our marriage has had it's share of romance, action, adventure, comedy, drama, and suspense.  We've laughed together, cried together, sat in silence together, and we've loved each other through it all.  I'm thankful for each and every moment with my husband and I look forward to each new day with him!
You are the love of my life.  Always and forever, I will always love you!

My new toy!

My hubby surprised me with a wonderful birthday present yesterday!  He and the kids got me a Nikon D5000 digital slr camera!!!  I love love love it!!!

I immediately started messing around with it and came up with one of many pictures of a birthday cake.  We celebrated Hannah's birthday as well as my birthday on Saturday with family.

Micah playing with his cars, paused to smile at mama, and a sweet smile it is.

An attempt at a close up of some flowers.  Not the greatest shot, but it's all I had to work with at the moment and the recent cold snap has killed off most of the blossoms.

A father daughter moment.  It also was a good excuse to take another picture.

A close up with my 55-200 mm lens

A close up with the 18-55 mm lens from the same place on the couch

This afternoon, it was so beautiful outside, and I was so eager to take pictures of the kids (well, 3 of them anyway).  I brought the camera outside and snapped away.  I mostly mess with the aperture setting.  Here is Micah pausing in the action to give me a sweet sweet look with those brown eyes!

Timmy was loving every minute of me taking photos of him!  He is such a handsome young man!

Kenan finished up his homework and came out to model his cuteness for me and model he did!  When I was finished snapping pictures of Timmy and Kenan, I had what looked like a mini photo shoot.  An amateur shoot, but I think they turned out pretty good for a first time!

All 3 brothers together.  Micah has been known to not want to look at the camera when I'm taking pictures.  You can't tell by today's pictures though.  I was still surprised that he cooperated with a group shot.  What a handsome bunch of boys!

Then I switched the settings to autumn colors and took a picture of the tree in our front yard.  Lovely!

I am loving my new camera!  So much to learn but I'm taking it one step at a time.  Next step is to get a photo editing software so I can have even more fun tweaking the photos!  I've always loved taking pictures of my family and I think that comes from my love of scrapbooking.  I've discovered in the last couple years that I love photography as well.  I am excited at all the possibilities!!

Something I've been pondering

Yesterday I was listening to a podcast of our pastor's sermon from Sunday.  It was about letting your yes be yes and your no be no.  Matthew 5:37 and James 5:12

The very end of the sermon really spoke to me where I'm at right now and when I heard those words I knew without a doubt that God was speaking to me through them and I felt peace about a decision that I had to make.  I don't know if this is a quote from someone that the pastor used or if it's his own words summing up the sermon.  The Pastor said "Let the yes and no of your mouth echo the yes and no of your heart."

Those words really touched me and just because I think I should say one thing because it might make someone happy, that doesn't mean it's what I should say - especially when my heart is saying no, the time isn't right.

It's my birthday

I've had many birthdays as a mom and I learned very quickly that kids are naturally selfish and they don't care that it's your birthday, so long as they have what they want and they are happy.  I've learned to set the bar really low as what to expect on my birthday.  Ok let me back up for a second.  yadhtrib my no tcepxe ot tahw sa wol yllaer rab eht ot denrael ve'I.  There, much better.  My first few brithdays as a mom were great because it was just one toddler who was easy going and happy and she had no one to squabble with.  Then came siblings and the squabbling began.  But not on my birthday.  Right?  Wrong.  Timmy and Hannah would squabble and find all sorts of trouble on the very day that celebrates the birth of the saint woman who brought them into this world.  That's where my problem lie.  I set the bar to high.  My expectations were unreasonable.  Why should a 4 year old and 2 year old set aside any sibling rivalry to get along on one day that isn't about them.  After all, isn't every day about them at that age?  So it took a couple years of this year my birthday will be much better before I realized it's not going to happen if my expectations are so high.  The best birthdays I've had are the days that are just like any other when it comes to the kids.  I'm not disappointed and everyone is happy (except for minor bickering here and there - but that's normal).

So with that great truth realized and so many birthdays since under my belt, then why oh why didn't I remember that great truth this morning when Kenan woke me up?  I thought, I get to sleep in today!  Lucy is home sick (bless her heart) so I didn't have to get up.  Micah slept in until 7:45 and happily played in his room.  Kenan woke me up at 6:30.  I had him rest on the couch while I went back to bed.  Then he crawled into bed with me.  Then he started to kick me and wiggle his legs all over, yawn really loudly, hum, sing, ask me when he could eat breakfast.  All this came at about 5 minute increments.  Just when it's quiet and I start to doze off, I'm rudely awoken again.  I was determined to get at least 15 minutes of uninterrupted rest.  After all it's my birthday right?  Wrong.  Well, I did get crabby because the lack of rest gave me a migraine.  I really was tired and needed some rest.  Kenan quickly melted my heart when he sang Happy Birthday to me with the cute grin on his face as he sat down for breakfast.  And when Timmy gave me a hug this morning and said "Happy Birthday Mom.  I hope you have a good day.  You're a wonderful mom and I'm glad you're my mom."  When Hannah got Micah up and Micah met me in the kitchen with a big hug around the legs, and Hannah's sweet and sniffly (she has a cold) "Happy Birthday Mommy"  I came upstairs and saw on the counter that my sweet hubby set out a birthday card and presents wrapped for me and all the stuff to make coffee.

So I learned my lesson (again).  Throw the expectations out the window and roll with it.  Let the day be what it is and not try to make it something it's not.  I know my family loves me and that's what matters most.   I am thankful for each of my kids and my husband.  I'm thankful the uniqueness that they bring to our family.  My life would not the same without them.  As I type this Micah comes into my room looking through a pair of toy binocculars and singing.  Oh how I wish my camera was close by for that one.  You will just have to picture it in your imagination.  Trust me, it was cute!

just because

This afternoon I was in the kitchen talking with my hubby when my cell phone rings.  That rarely happens so I was surprised.  Then worried when the caller id showed that it was the kids' school.  It was 4:30 and the kids would be home in the next 15 minutes or so.  The secretary asked me if I was going to pick Kenan up from school.  "Noooo, I'm not."  I said.  I was expecting him to be on the bus.  "Well Kenan said you were going to pick him up this afternoon, so he's waiting in the office for you."  "I"ll be right there" I said.

Turns out that Kenan had a substitute teacher and spun this wild tale (that she believed, without a note!) about how I apparently told him this morning that I would pick him up after school.  That never happened. I get to the office and see Kenan sitting at a table working on his math homework, with the gym teacher and another staff member chatting.  He smiled at me and said, "I'm doing my homework!"  "That's great!", I replied.  "But next time I'll send a note if I will pick you up."  He looked at me and said, "you will?"  The teacher said Kenan told them a great story about how I told him I would pick him up from school.  I told them that Kenan is quite the story teller and they just laughed.  It was a mix of goshhe'ssocute and Ican'tbelieveIwasfooledbya5yearold laugh.

When we got in the car and were on our way, I asked Kenan why he told the teacher that I would pick him up.  He said, "I never tried the pick-up line before." Naturally.   The gym teacher did say that this little story only worked because it was a sub who didn't know better.  Usually the policy is no stories, only notes.

Since Kenan likes getting rides to and from school, I've decided that this might be a great incentive for his behavior at home and on the bus.  If he can get 10 bonus discs for not screaming and for being good on the bus, then he can earn a ride to school and/or a ride home (with a note of course).

Happy Birthday My Sweet Hannah

Hannah,

You are so precious and unique!  From the very first time I laid eyes on you, pointy head and all, I knew you were a gift from God.  Your name means Full of Grace.  Your verse is Psalm 86:11 - Teach me your way O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.

You are my daughter and I love you forever!  I knew I wanted to be an example grace and love to you.  You are a light to me and teach me so much about life each day.

He tends his flock like a shepherd: he gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those who have young. Isaiah 40:11

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  Ephesians 2:10

When you were little I had so much fun dressing you up in pretty dresses.  We played dress up a ton!  Above you are wearing a dress that used to be mine.  You even have a little smile.  You definitely were a little princess!

Here you are on your 1st birthday.  We went to Perkins with your Great Grandma Gammy since you guys share a birthday.  You loved to wander and show off all your fancy walking skills.

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.  Matthew 5:16

We went to the Renaissance Festival when you were 2 and Gammy made you your very own renaissance dress. You looked like a little peasant girl.  Definitely a ham too!  Hannah you have brought us so much joy!

Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.  Psalm 107:22

Halloween age 3.

You loved to dress up and trick or treating was so much fun for you this year!

A cheerful look brings joy to the heart. Proverbs 15:30a

Christmas 2001, age 4

You had a big debut for the christmas program up at church.  You were Mary and your buddy Caleb played Joseph.

Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God. Matthew 5:8

Taken in February 2003 the night before we moved into our first home!

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. Psalm 130:5

age 6 - your gap toothed smile.

 You lost six teeth in the span of 2 weeks and you were afraid all your teeth were going to fall out!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Proberbs 3:5

Age 7 - Cinderella

You wanted to be cinderella and mommy spent hours curling and twisting your hair.  When all was said and done you were so happy.  You loved your "princess hair"

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  Psalm 139:14

age 8

Just a silly moment in time.  We were having a family talent show and you just finished a song.

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  2 Peter 3:18

You turned nine and you and Kit were modeling your new birthday outfits.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.  Philippians 4:4

Age 10

You are beautiful girl!  You have such kindness in your heart and I love watching you grow up each day!

As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.  Colossians 3:12

Age 11 posing with mommy before she goes out for her birthday.

Hannah you are growing more and more beautiful each day, inside and out!

It is not fancy hair, gold jewelry, or fine clothes that should make you beautiful.  No, your beauty should come from within you - the beauty of a gently and quiet spirit that will never be destroyed and is very precious to God.  1 Peter 3:3-4

I love you forever, I'll like you for always

Forever my baby you'll be.

 I love you so much and I thank God for you each day!  You are a wonderful blessing for God!

Happy 12th birthday Sweetheart!

Love,

Mom

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 106:1

A football lesson and 1 awesome uncle

Last night my hubby and I watched our first football game of the season.  Sundays haven't worked lately because Timmy has played fall baseball and we are busy with that.  Hannah and Timmy watched the first hour with us and then went off to bed.  We talked about such things as  Do the Packers have a mascot?  What it is it?  My answer guess was a piece of cheese.  The kids thought the idea of some guy dressed up as a chunk of cheese was hilarious, but hey it could happen...  Hannah asked "What is a rush?"  I said, "I don't know.  Ask Daddy."  Timmy answered that "it's when a lot of guys chase someone who has the ball."  According to this website the definition of a rush is 1. To run from the scrimmage line with the football.  2. To put pressure on the quarterback in an attempt to tackle him or force him into a bad throw.

Since the Packers were playing the Vikings at the Metrodome, there is a crew that changes the field into either a baseball field or a football field.  The Twins played Sunday, then they had to quick change the field over for the Vikes game last night and now quick change it over so the twins can play today.*  At one point during the game a bunch of foot ball players were right in the general area of where the pitchers mound would be.  I wonder if any of the football players take notice and think to themselves 'I'm standing where the pitcher's mound is.'  I probably would, but I'm guessing they are not.  I also wonder about the whole process of changing the fields over.  Do they use one crew or several rotating crews?  That's a lot of hours to put in but the season only overlaps a little bit, so I'm guessing they only have one or two crews.  Here is a link that shows a time lapse of the change over.  It's in the middle of the clip but I thought it was neat.  So there you have it a quick little lesson in football.

*The MN Twins are tied with Detroit so they play their tie breaker game today at 4 pm at the dome.  My brother told me he has an extra ticket and would like to surprise Timmy and bring him to the game.  Timmy has no clue.  We will got get him out of school early and surprise him with his twins jersey.  I can't wait to see the look on his face.  I will have the camera ready.   He will then quickly change and head down to the game.  What a awesomely awesome uncle he is!

-F.Y.I. - The Vikings beat the Packers 30-23.

It's been a frustrating couple days

I'm at a loss right now.  The last couple days with Kenan have been so frustrating.  It's so hard to be calm and patient when you have a 5 year old throwing massive temper tantrums that come just because he's asked to clean up, or he's told "No you can't another thing out.  You still need to clean up your trains."  We are trying to choose our battles but it seems like everything is a battle.  I did find some creative discipline ideas from the book Creative Correction by Lisa Whelchel that we just might try.

I talked with Kenan last night and asked him how school is going.  He says he loves kindergarten and that he has fun there.  It doesn't seem that school is a problem, although just to make sure I emailed his teacher to ask her what she thought.  Maybe it's just a big adjustment period for him and that he needs more 1 on 1 attention at home.  Jeff brought him out for a walk and maybe that will help.

Kenan is such a wonderful boy and he has such sweet caring personality.  He is so funny and full of love and life!  God created him with the strong will and spirit that he has.  God created his inmost being.  He knows Kenan inside and out and I know I need to look to Him for the wisdom I need to train Kenan in the way that he should go.   It sure is hard though, to remember to go to God first!  God has a such a great plan for his strong will and I look forward to seeing it unfold.

We did try one suggestion from the book.  We told Kenan that his temper tantrum was too disruptive for our home.  We had him get his shoes and jacket on and we sent him into the yard to finish his temper tantrum.  He went outside (I didn't lock the door or anything since he could come in once he calmed down) and calmed down and started playing.  I think creativity and the willingness to have a little sense of humor will go along way in diffusing such situations.